


Tender Hearted Cousin

by MapleLantern



Series: The Shadow of Thy Face [1]
Category: 14th Century CE RPF, Richard II - Shakespeare
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic, Little Ned is adorabl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-12 02:24:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20127079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MapleLantern/pseuds/MapleLantern
Summary: 1377 - Newly crowned Richard escapes his exhausting duties for a while to play with his cousin.





	Tender Hearted Cousin

**September 1377, King’s Langley **

Joan finds her son in the family solar of York’s palace, after following the sounds of a squealing child and laughter of women.

Richard is sitting away from the circle of women, curled in the window alcove where there are still some rays of sun to be caught. His knees are drawn up, his feet and back braced against the walls, and in his lap sits his baby cousin, who is squeaking and squealing with delight.

Joan can hear her son muttering as he rocks his cousin’s little body in his:

“I am king now, so I- we, can make you a knight, and one day we shall.” He pitches his voice a little higher, although remaining quiet, and puppet's little Ned’s small arms to make his hands flap. “Thank you kindly, Richard, I will be the greatest knight in the kingdom.”

Ned collapses into a fit of giggles, likely more at being rocked and bounced than at the words themselves, but it brings a grin to Richard’s face too, nevertheless.

It is an odd occupation for a ten year old boy, especially one recently crowned king, but Joan leaves them to their game.

Her son has been working hard since June - thrust suddenly into a host of responsibilities and political entanglements far beyond his age, tempered as best they can be by his uncles and Simon Burley - and the sight of him playing with his cousin reminds her that he is still, indeed, only a boy.


End file.
